OUR LORD IN WHOM WE MUST BELIEVE

Numbers chapter 14 verses 4 - 5 says this;

And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there.

As the children of Israel approached Canaan from Egypt, the Lord instructed Moses to send twelve men, one from each tribe, to explore the land.

When the men returned, they showed the people the extraordinary agricultural produce that came from the territory and Caleb, one of the expedition members, exorted Israel to go and capture the land because they could easily do it.

However, the rest of the men in the expedition party reported to the people that the land was full of giants who saw them as grasshoppers and that they couldn't attack the inhabitants of the land because, they said, "they are stronger than we are.”

 It was in response to this negative report that the children of Israel began talking about finding a leader to take them back to Egypt. 

When Moses and Aaron heard what the children of Israel were saying, they immediately fell facedown to the ground in front of everyone assembled there.

They must have know how displeasing such attitudes were to the Lord and they instinctively fell to the ground to intercede on behalf of the people before the Lord struck them and maybe even to avoid being struck themselves.

The Lord was angry with the people and asked Moses why they treated Him with such contempt that they would not believe in Him even after all they had seen Him do for them.

The Lord wanted to wipe them out and start again with Moses but Moses interceded and pleaded with God to spare the people and he pointed out to God that if Egypt and the surrounding nations heard that the Lord had slaughtered His people, they would say that the Lord was unable to successfully bring His people through the wilderness inspite of His oath.

The Lord listened to Moses and He relented and forgave the people but promised that not a single person who murmured against Him would see the promised land. Thus the tribe of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years until every last one of the grumblers who was over twenty years old at the time of the expedition, died off.

The Lord sees unbelief in Him as insulting and  contemptuous of Him. Trust in the Lord.

Amen.